Led by the Spirit, Simeon took the baby Jesus and held him in the air. Everyone in the temple could hear the old man crying as he said, “Thank you God. I can now die in peace, for with my own eyes I’ve seen your salvation.”
Two generations later…
The young men were walking home from the rabbinical school of Shammai. One of them was talking about his grandfather, when the others interrupted, “Oh no! Here we go again!” “What? Can’t a guy talk about his grandfather?” he asked. “No! We’re tired of hearing that same old story,” they replied, then sarcastically added, “We know, we know, ‘My granddad was at the temple one day praying and got to hold the baby Jesus.’”
He quit talking, but his mind raced through the stories he’d been told about his grandfather. Stories about how God’s Spirit would come upon his grandfather and show him things. Stories about how his grandfather had dedicated a baby from up north that he swore was the Messiah. Stories about how from that day forward his grandfather was never quite the same. And the stories about how his grandfather’s face seemed to be joyful the day he died.
Jolted back to the conversation, one of his classmates asked, “I suppose the next thing you’re going to tell us is that you think these crazy people who believe Jesus was the Messiah are right?!” “No, well, I mean…” he stumbled for words. “Come on, that’s what your grandfather believed!” The others laughed.
Finally he made his way home. Tired from day’s activities, he laid down in his room. “I don’t know, maybe my grandfather was crazy,” he thought to himself. “After all, my own father never bought into any of it.” In fact, it was his father who demanded that he go to the conservative school of Shammai where he was to be taught the right way to believe.
But something was stirring in him. Something down inside of was pressing him so hard that he said, “Father God, I believe in you. I believe in the promise of a coming Messiah. My grandfather believed that Jesus was the Messiah. I’m not sure what to believe. Please help me.”
The room flooded with a warmth similar to what he had felt during certain times of prayer, but this was much different and much stronger. His heart pounded. Suddenly he was standing in a room glistening with colors and light. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He saw a man who he knew was his grandfather. He began to reach out for him when he heard someone say his name in a way that made everything else fade. He knew who it was, and began to cry out, “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!” Everyone else in the room including his grandfather joined him. “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!”
“Get up! You’re going to be late!” yelled his dad. It was morning and he had overslept. As he gathered his things and ran out the door, the memory of what he had experienced filled his thoughts. Was it a dream? Whatever had happened, he felt different. He could tell something had changed inside of him. He knew he wasn’t crazy, and neither was his grandfather.
Simeon’s grandson from that day forward was never the same.
“I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.” (Joel 2:28, NIV84)
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